Faced with labour shortage, farmers in Mandya, Melukote innovate KUNTE

Mandya:  Farmers spend over 40 percent of their total cultivation cost on labour alone and as such, the profession is no longer profitable. Hence over 1,00,000 farmers give up farming every year in India. With lack of relevant technology and the cost of labour doubling every year, India’s food shortage concerns will become a reality soon.  

Studies have found that given an option, majority of farmers in the country would prefer to take up some other work. Poor income, bleak future and stress are the main reasons why they want to give up farming. 

If this is one side of a story, the other side paints a picture of hope. At a time when the Government is spending huge funds on agricultural research through scientists, some of our farmers have found their own ways of reducing farming costs through their ingenious methods.

In a novel research, farmers from Mandya have produced agricultural equipment using old and broken bicycles. This equipment which is used to clean weeds has come in handy for farmers, who are distressed by rising farming costs and unremunerative prices for crops. The novel equipment is now being widely used by Mandya farmers for cleaning farms of weed, which has been a bane for them.

Farmers have also displayed their creativity by using their own equipment for tilling as they find hiring of tractors and tillers expensive and unaffordable. Most farmers in Melukote area of Pandavapura Taluk are using this wonder equipment which they have named Kunte in Kannada.

After dismantling the front portion of broken bicycles, they have converted it into a double-edged Kunte which they are now using for weed removal and strengthening bunds in farms. There more than 50 such Kuntes in Melukote alone.

The Kuntes are very helpful for farmers for tilling and have started to replace cattle and manpower. The use of this equipment will help farmers save both money and manpower. The Kuntes, apart from being helpful in removing weeds, also acts as an earth mover as it can push small quantities of loose earth to the bunds. The newly discovered Kuntes are saving a lot of time and money for farmers.

Devaraj, a farmer, said that the Kuntes are becoming popular by the day not only in Melukote but other areas in Mandya district as well. The equipment, apart from being highly cost-effective, is also easy to use. Another farmer   said that the equipment has come as a Godsend at a time when the farming community is facing acute labour shortage with the cattle too becoming difficult to find.

By Nagaiah Lalanakere